The Country’s First Safe Injection Facility May Soon Open in Philadelphia. Here’s What You Need to Know

Last month, supervised injection facilities, also known as safe injection facilities (SIFs), were thrust back into the news when Philadelphia officials announced the city would likely become the first in the U.S. to adopt the controversial tactic for fighting opioid abuse.

TO GO WITH AFP STORY BY JAVIER RAMIREZ FRANCO Silvia Hernandez (L), 30, addicted to heroin, gives a sterile syringe to an addict, on February 4, 2016, in Cali, Colombia. Cali’s municipal authorities through the Accion Tecnica Social (ATS) NGO chose to bet on the reduction of the damage suffered by the addicts by contagious diseases, giving them for free sterile syringes and needles. AFP PHOTO / LUIS ROBAYO / AFP / LUIS ROBAYO (Photo credit should read LUIS ROBAYO/AFP/Getty Images)

SIFs, which currently operate in Canada, Europe and Australia, offer drug users a place to use heroin and other narcotics under the supervision of medical professionals. (SIFs do not provide drugs, nor do their employees inject users directly.) Proponents say they can help curb overdose deaths, improve injection hygiene and expand access to addiction treatment. Adversaries, meanwhile, argue that they condone and enable illicit drug use.